Our Top 10 Tips for Pottery Painting

Pottery painting is totally beginner-friendly! People of all artistic skill levels can enjoy a fun, creative session with us, and walk out with a masterpiece of their own. Whether it’s your first time painting pottery, or you’re in need of a refresher, here are our top 10 tips for making the most out of your time in our Glasgow studio.

1. Come with ideas: Plan your design ahead of time so you can spend your whole 2-hour slot painting. Find inspiration in nature, libraries, museums, craft fairs, your Gran’s cupboard, charity shops, Pinterest—really anywhere at all.
   
   Bring along design images and photos of colours schemes you’ve been dreaming of, and if all else fails, we have lots of finished pieces in our studio you can pull ideas from too.
   

2. Draw before you paint: It doesn’t matter if your planned design is intricate or super simple, it’s best to see it on your piece before adding your paint. You can use a sharpened pencil to sketch directly on the pottery—the lead burns off in the kiln. Once the paint is added, there is no guarantee it can be removed, so it’s best to test things out before you fully commit to a design.
   

3. Three coats = no streaks: Always use three coats of paint, dried fully between, for solid coverage. Don’t worry, our paint dries very fast! Any fewer than three coats can turn out streaky once fired even if it appears to fully cover while in studio.
   
   You can use our colour wheels to see how 1, 2, and 3 coats fire to help determine the look you’re going for. Make sure your brush is dry before painting if you want opaque coverage.
   

4. Please tell us if you’re wobbling: Our floors have been replaced twice, and we still can’t help the wobbles that may come when foot traffic happens next to some tables. It has to do with the foundation of our building.
   
   If you’re experiencing a wobbly table, we have rubber wedges you can use to place under the legs to give you a more solid base to work with. We apologise in advance if this happens to you! We promise we’re trying our best.
   

5. BYOB if you're so inclined!: We boast a bring your own booze policy (with no corkage fee!). A little something to wet your whistle can sometimes help get those creative juices flowing. We also have a vending machine with water, canned coffees, fizzy drinks, and snacks.
   
   You are welcome to bring your own snacks as well, just make sure to clean your fingers from any debris from crisps (or the like) before handling your pottery. The grease can affect the paint from firing properly in our kilns.
   

6. Paint colors change during firing: The colours will look different before they are fired. Due to our colours actually being “underglazes” versus traditional “paint” as you know it, their chemical make-up reacts to the heat during the firing process.
   
   This means all of our pieces are food-safe upon pick up. This also means most of the colours you use to paint with appear as a lighter version of themselves (and sometimes as a different colour altogether). If you’re ever unsure when you’re at our paint bar, our team members are always there to help clarify.
   

7. Add water for a softer effect: You can mix our paint with some water for a watercolour look. The more parts water, the softer the colour, the more parts paint, the stronger the colour.
   

8. You can mix colours to create new shades: You can mix our paints together to make other shades and colours—albeit a little tricky. If you’d like to try this option, just make sure you’re basing the mixing off of the fired examples on our colour wheels, and not by the (fairer) colours of the wet paint.
   
   This option is probably best reserved for those who have painted pottery before, or those with an artistic background.
   

9. Utilise our design tools: Feeling stuck creatively, or as if your artistic talents are lacking? We got you! We provide stencils, tape, and lots of other tools to help you create a masterpiece that's truly awesome, even if you are a pottery painting beginner!
   

10. Please ask for help if you need it: When in doubt, ask a team member! Although pottery painting is self-led in general, our whole team are super friendly and know all the tips, tricks, and secrets to help you leave with something you are proud of. Please utilise their knowledge!